State of the Station

State of the Station: Post-GDC Fallout

Besides GDC, it's been a busy past few weeks. January was a victorious month for Sony on the sales side, as the PS3 beat the 360 for the first month ever. By this time next week, we'll be a few days closer to the next NPD results, and all you console hooligans can begin chanting anew.

It's a relief that the HD format war has now been decided, not just because it will undoubtedly boost PS3 sales, but because now I can buy "Hot Fuzz" on Blu-ray. Resident PC Editor-in-Chief Sal "Sluggo" Accardo is still as skeptical as I was during the PS3 launch. It's questionable in some ways whether or not Blu-ray will really take off. I think it'll be a slow start; movies are still too expensive for many people, hi-def or not, and I sense that many people will simply take advantage of the console's amazing DVD upscaling. This is not "The Matrix on DVD Part Two." On the other hand, if I have the chance to rent a Blu-ray at my local video store, I'll pick it instead of DVD every time.

Now that the cat's out of the bag about the Metal Gear Solid 4 80GB pack, it seems like a move that can only help the console, especially alongside the end of the HD format battle. The question is really how much. It looks like PAL territories get 40GB systems with three Blu-rays guaranteed to go over well ("Spider-Man 3," "300," and launch pack-in "Casino Royale") and a Gran Turismo 5 Prologue pack. I expected a DualShock 3 pack, but I wouldn't have foreseen MGS4. I'm impressed. If my memory serves me correctly, Sony had quite a bit of success featuring Gran Turismo 3 as a PS2 pack-in around that game's launch. Let's see if lightning strikes twice.

I was thinking about the concerns regarding backwards compatibility on PS3 prior to this MGS4 bundle. I could be totally wrong here, but if you're the owner of a 40GB PS3, would you pay an extra $60 to download a PS2 emulator that would let you play PS2 content? Your old PS2 can't upscale games to HD, which leaves you a bit bereft of options. I don't think that paying for an emulator is the most consumer-friendly option out there, but I'm not doubting that it could be a possibility.

There's also lot of talk about backwards compatibility disappearing faster than it did on the 360, and equal buzz that Sony's going to extend its digital distribution of PS One and PSP games to the PlayStation 2. Perhaps it'll start with games that don't hold up well on the 80GB system, like the Ratchet & Clank series, and work up to other content. Well, 40 gig owners out there, what would you prefer? Downloading titles as they drop or buying software to allow emulation? I'd like to see them do it for free, but business is business.

Two weeks from now, we'll know how Sony's products performed Stateside last month, and if its strategy is working after all. Got any tidbits to share about your PS3, or your (I love Skype!) PSP? Hit me up.

State of the Station is written by Sterling McGarvey, who's stoked to see most of his Champions League teams advance this week. Don't care about that stupid sport at all? Let him know here! Also, if you're interested in joining GameSpy's Folding@home efforts, join Group 64100.